Differential uses of coral reef habitats by a poorly-known cryptic fish predator.

Autor: Morat F; PSL Université Paris: EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, USR 3278 CRIOBE, Université de Perpignan, Perpignan, France.; Laboratoire d'Excellence « CORAIL », Papetoai Moorea, French Polynesia., Briand MJ; Aix Marseille Université, Université de Toulon, CNRS/INSU, IRD, Institut Méditerranéen d'Océanologie (MIO), Marseille, France., Pécheyran C; Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, LCABIE, UMR 5254 CNRS/IPREM, Hélioparc Pau Pyrénées, Pau, France., Letourneur Y; Université de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, Institut ISEA et LABEX « Corail », Nouméa Cedex, New Caledonia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of fish biology [J Fish Biol] 2019 Jan; Vol. 94 (1), pp. 53-61. Date of Electronic Publication: 2018 Dec 10.
DOI: 10.1111/jfb.13853
Abstrakt: This study used otolith microchemistry to evaluate whether the moray eel Gymnothorax chilospilus uses different habitats throughout its life (mainly juvenile and adult phases). Of the most informative trace elements within otoliths (the twelve isotopes 23 Na, 25 Mg, 43 Ca, 55 Mn, 59 Co, 60 Ni, 63 Cu, 66 Zn, 86 Sr, 111 Cd, 138 Ba and 208 Pb) only three ratios of Ca (Na:Ca, Sr:Ca and Ba:Ca) were informative and therefore used in a multivariate regression-tree analysis. Using a multivariate partitioning, three main phases were described from profiles, including the larval life phase (leptocephali), the intermediate phase (longest section between the larval life phase and the terminal phase) and the terminal phase (final section i.e., the most recent months preceding the death of fish). According to concentrations of the three ratios to Ca, G. chilospilus can be separated into three groups during their larval life stage (very different in Sr and Na), four groups during the intermediate phase (few differences in Sr and Na) and three groups during the terminal phase (differences in Sr), illustrating that G. chilospilus inhabit different habitats during these three phases. Our results showed that the leptocephali encountered different oceanic water masses with fluctuating Sr:Ca ratios during the early larval phase. During the intermediate phase (main part of their life-span), they lived in lagoonal waters such as fringing reefs or reef flats of lagoonal islets, characterized by a lower Sr:Ca ratio. During the latter part of their life, approximately one third of G. chilospilus encountered more oceanic waters close to or at barrier reefs, suggesting possible movements of these fish along a coast-to-ocean gradient.
(© 2018 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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